Chris Christie got mercilessly booed at a horse race in New Jersey

Published 9:58 am, Monday, August 3, 2015

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) did not get a friendly reception in his home state on Sunday.

The GOP presidential candidate was booed — loudly and often — by a record crowd of more than 60,000 at a horse race in Oceanport, New Jersey, on Sunday, according to The Star-Ledger.

The newspaper's sports columnist, Steve Politi, described the scene as Christie stepped into the winner's circle to present a trophy to the team behind American Pharoah, the horse that recently won the Triple Crown:

"So not even the popular Triple Crown winner, which went off as such a heavy favorite that a $2 bet won 20 cents, could improve the popularity of the Republican presidential candidate in his home state," Politi quipped.

Indeed, Christie has seen his popularity in his home state nose dive after winning re-election by a sizable margin in 2013. A Monmouth University poll from early July found that most New Jerseyans want him to resign now that he is running for president. They gave him a dismal approval rating (36%) and would be more likely to choose at least two of his rivals — former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) in the state's Republican primary.

And just 27% of New Jersey residents said Christie would make a good president, compared with 69% who think he would not. Christie has attributed this phenomenon to the notion that "a lot of those people ... want me to stay" as governor.

But Monmouth followed up with poll respondents in an attempt to fact check Christie's claim. It found that just 5% who said Christie wouldn't make a good president said they gave that response because they hope he stays on as governor. On the other hand, 89% confirmed for a second time that they really think he would make a bad president.

“I'm not sure how the governor defines 'a lot,' but any common sense usage of the term would have to be significantly greater than five percent," said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Politi noted that it "wasn't all bad" for Christie on Sunday: The governor was introduced as "Mr. President."